Recycling Reform Act will lower recycling costs in Washington state

Work is underway to transform how we recycle in Washington. Thanks to the Recycling Reform Act, signed into law in May 2025, our state's residential recycling system is getting a major upgrade. When the program officially rolls out in 2030, what is recyclable in Renton will also be recyclable in Ritzville.

At the heart of this change is a policy called Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). Right now, when you throw away a plastic container or cardboard box, you and your local community pay to manage the waste. EPR flips the script. The Recycling Reform Act forces product brand owners to pay for the end-of-life management of their consumer packaging and paper products.

What this means for you:

• Lower bills: Shifting waste management costs to producers reduces your household recycling fees.
• Smarter packaging: The law financially rewards producers that redesign their packaging or paper products to be more recyclable and to have fewer human health and environmental impacts.
• Better infrastructure: The producer organization must use funds paid by the producers to invest in local recycling and reuse.

Change takes time, but by 2030 Washingtonians will enjoy a simpler, fairer, and less expensive way to recycle.

What is Extended Producer Responsibility?

EPR is a policy that shifts the responsibility for waste from residents and local governments to the companies that make and sell the products.

Washington has several similar programs for other products: E-Cycle for electronics, PaintCare for architectural paint, LightRecycle for mercury-containing lights, and Safe Medicine Return for over-the-counter and prescription medications. The Recycling Reform Act focuses on residential packaging and paper products.

How does the Recycling Reform Act work?

Under the Recycling Reform Act, producers of packaging and paper products are required to join Circular Action Alliance (CAA), the registered producer responsibility organization. Interchange360 also registered with Ecology to establish an alternative collection program for automotive lubricant packaging.

CAA and Interchange360 will collect fees based on the volume of packaging or paper products their producer members introduce into Washington. Those fees will be set to incentivize recyclable materials (with lower fees) and discourage less sustainable materials (with higher fees).

The law requires recycling infrastructure improvements and expanded curbside systems so everyone who has curbside trash service will also have recycling service.

Recycling Reform Act benefits

Studies show that we can anticipate the following Recycling Reform Act benefits:

• Increased curbside recycling from 2.8 million households - 83% of Washington residents - to 3.2 million households, or more than 95% of residents
• Reduced household recycling bills by at least 90% after 2032 when the program reimbursement rate reaches the highest level
• Standardized recycling collection lists where the same kinds of packaging or paper products will be accepted everywhere across the state, reducing confusion and contamination, and improving the quality of recycling streams
• Increased recovery of residential recyclables from the current 40% to an expected 66%
• Decreased greenhouse gas emissions by about 565,000 metric tons due to more recycled materials used in manufacturing

Learn more from that research

• Washington Recycle, Reuse, and Source Reduction Target Study and Community Input Process, Ecology publication
• Washington Consumer Packaging and Paper Study - Recycling Rate Assessment and Recommendations, Ecology publication
• Improving Recycling in Washington through Producer Responsibility Policy: Costs and Benefits - Responsible Recycling Task Force - King County Solid Waste Division

Packaging policy includes cardboard, glass, plastics, and metal

The program applies to consumer packaging and paper products:

• Paperboard and cardboard: examples include shipping boxes and product boxes (such as shoe or cereal boxes)
• Plastics: examples include bottles, clamshell containers, wraps, and bags
• Glass and metal: examples include bottles, jars, cans, and tins
• Paper products: examples include flyers, brochures, booklets, catalogs, magazines, printed paper

For example, if you buy a pair of shoes, the shoe box, ball of paper tucked into the shoe, plastic wrap around the shoes, and, for online purchase, the exterior shipping box, are all packaging or paper products under the Recycling Reform Act.

Consider a takeout order: The plastic or paper clamshell holding the sandwich, the paper wrap around the sandwich, and the delivery bag (paper or plastic) are all covered by the Recycling Reform Act as packaging or paper products.

Business-to-business packaging and paper products are exempt from the Recycling Reform Act.

What will this cost individual households?

There is no expected impact on the cost of items at the store. Research shows that packaging EPR laws do not result in higher product prices on the shelf. Producer fees are spread across their entire West Coast or national market, similar to how producers fund their marketing efforts or staffing costs.

Washington consumers will see lower recycling bills starting in 2030 as CAA reimburses service providers for their costs to collect and process recyclables. Today, residential recycling generally costs $8 to $10 a month for households that have recycling bins at the curb.

Recycling Reform Act current status

While the law passed in 2025, many activities need to be completed before the CAA and Interchange360 programs can roll out in January 2030. You can find more information on our Producer Responsibility Organization webpage. The highlights are listed below:

• Statewide, standardized collection lists will be published by October 2026.
• A preliminary needs assessment of existing recycling services in Washington will be published in January 2027 and a draft report will be posted for public comment.
• An assessment of the future EPR program needs will be published in December 2027 and a draft report will be posted for public comment.
• An advisory council meets regularly to review and provide input on program startup efforts. These meetings are open to the public.
• Ecology is conducting rulemaking for the program and offering public comment opportunities.

Sign up for Ecology's Recycling Reform Act newsletter to receive regular updates on program progress and public participation opportunities.